Stream and Floodplain Restoration in West Tennessee
David Blackwood
Kayla Key, PhD
West Tennessee River Basin Authority
Humboldt, TN
Authors: David Blackwood and Kayla Key, PhD. West Tennessee River Basin Authority, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Humboldt, TN
Nearly every stream and river in west Tennessee is physically degraded due to channel modifications and altered disturbance regimes with exception of the Hatchie River and a few of its tributaries. These changes often lead to upstream channel incision (via head cutting) that causes down-valley aggradation, valley-plug formation, and reduced water tables and base flows. These processes have resulted in increased flooding leading to infrastructure damage for humans and negative impacts to wildlife and habitat. The West Tennessee River Basin Authority (WTRBA) has been successful in restoring previously channelized and degraded streams by using a dynamic, flexible, and adaptable approach to channel design. The WTRBA is committed to continuous improvement of design based on empirical science such as the results of studies on fish passage, fish response to restoration, geomorphology trends, and stream gauging studies. In this presentation, we describe the unique challenges to restoring streams in west Tennessee while giving examples of successes and lessons learned through our agency’s stream restoration projects and scientific findings.
About David Blackwood
David Blackwood is the Executive Director of the West Tennessee River Basin Authority and a registered Professional Engineer. He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 2005 and began his career in Jackson at TLM Associates. In 2011 he joined the WTRBA in Humboldt, TN. Prior to his appointment as director in 2019 David was the Civil Engineering Manager and had design and construction oversight of agency water resource projects. These projects include over two hundred thousand linear feet of stream restoration and over four thousand acres of wetland restoration. David and his wife Heather reside in Jackson, Tennessee with their four daughters.
About Kayla Key
Kayla N. Key was born in Jackson, Tennessee, on August 2, 1990. Her academic career began at University of Tennessee at Martin, where she received her Bachelors of Science in Biology in December 2012. Her entry into higher education started in January 2013 when she enrolled at the University of Texas at Tyler. She received her Masters of Science in Biology in May 2015. She received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Environmental Sciences in December 2019. Kayla is currently an Environmental Consultant at the West Tennessee River Basin Authority in Humboldt, TN.